


The Room

by TheAmazingHouseplant



Category: Trench - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:13:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16390991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAmazingHouseplant/pseuds/TheAmazingHouseplant
Summary: *slight trigger warning, mentions of suicide and depressing thoughts but that's it*auwith some sort of magic, tyler has been locked in a room since he was nine. he's now sixteen. he's tried to get out, tried to escape, but he can't. so he's given up. now he just sits in the room and keeps himself alive. that's it.everyone has forgotten about him.until josh comes along, and finds tyler. he wants to help him, and get him out, and be his friend.but will tyler leave?





	1. one

somewhere in the world, there is a tall, abandoned house.  
it has three big floors.  
the walls are rotten and moldy and smell strongly of damp wood.  
the ceilings and floors sag and sway if the wind blows too hard.  
it's all made of wood and painted only with different shades of brown.  
it's horrifyingly dirty, coated in dust and bugs.  
the small amount of furniture there is, is old and unstable, and in shreds.  
it's naturally dark, and has no lights of any kind within it.  
it's void of any life.  
in that house, there is a room.  
the room is different than the other rooms in the house.  
it is giant, so giant no one will ever be able to explore it fully.  
the walls are free of marks, and are perfectly clean, and smell of fresh roses.  
the ceiling and floor are perfectly flat.  
it's bright white, and almost blinding until your eyes are used to it.  
it's pristine.  
the couches and bed are seemingly brand new.  
it's full of lamps and lights.  
it holds one living thing.  
in the room, there is a boy.  
he's sixteen years, nine months, and seventeen days old.  
he's five feet, six-and-a-half inches tall.  
his skin isn't pale, but it's not quite tan.  
he has brown eyes.  
he has short, brown hair, and it's barely an inch long at its longest.  
he has stubble on his chin and upper lip, and at the top of his neck.  
his name is tyler.  
tyler joseph.  
tyler joseph feels some emotions.   
some.  
most of the time, he feels bored.  
and sad.  
and scared.  
and lonely.  
rarely, maybe for a couple seconds a day, he feels happy.  
but most of all, tyler feels hopeless.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter two

'alone another day.'  
while he thinks, tyler strikes a match. for a moment, he watches it burn. just for a moment, and then he blows it out. he uses the small coal to add a tally to the wall, next to the two-thousand, seventy-hundred, thirty-three other black tallies.   
'it won't be the last.'  
the boy sighs softly and sits back on an expensive-looking chair with a purple cushion, staring dismally, emptily, at the marks on the wall.  
'no human contact. none, in over seven years. god.'  
tyler chuckles in a dark, twisted type of amusement. the amusement-less kind of amusement.  
'what does the word god mean when there is no god?'  
he turns in his chair, facing the rest of the bedroom section of the room.   
bedroom section, because tyler has learned the difference between sections and rooms. he's in one big room, but it's divided up into countless sections, maybe even infinite sections.  
'all this room, for one me.'  
tyler turns and looks at the only door he's seen in over seven years.  
the door is big and white and blank. there's no handle, or even a hole where the handle is supposed to be. he can see only darkness underneath, above, and around it.   
tyler doesn't know what's on the outside of the door. it's been far too long to remember anything other than the contents of the room.  
'are there even other people out there? i can't remember. and if there is, why haven't they found me by now?'  
tyler sighs again, looking down at his lap.   
'they're not looking. why would they be? they've given up, like me.'  
he stands and walks over to a mirror five feet across and six feet high - tyler has measured before, using a yardstick he found in the classroom section - and looks at himself.  
he's wearing a plain black hoodie with no symbols on it, and black skinny jeans with pockets too small for his hands to fit in. underneath his hoodie is a plain white tee shirt. underneath his jeans are black boxers. he wears black tennis shoes with black socks.  
tyler hates bright colors.  
he hates bright colors, after so many years of enduring the blinding brightness of everything in the room.   
he never wears anything apart from black, maroon, dark brown, or dark blue, and his outfit is typically one solid color.   
maybe he hates colors because they hurt his eyes, even after so long. maybe it's because they annoy him.   
or, maybe it's because he's envious of them of being so bright. after all, it's difficult to stay bright after feeling so dark for such a long time.  
'i look horrible, don't i? hm. funny i care about my looks when there's no one around to see me.'  
tyler could be wrong that he looks horrible. but, is he?  
his brown hair is tousled far past fixing, despite how short it is, despite how impossible it may seem for it to be anything but straight and perfect.   
his brownish-gray eyes are exhausted and drained from most, if not all emotion. to say the least, they're dull compared to the beautiful, caramel brown they were years ago.  
his lips are cracked in places, and faded from the bright pink they used to be.  
he's taller than he was by a lot, at least six inches, but he slouches so much he can barely tell.   
'fuck. this is depressing. but i guess, what isn't?'  
tyler walks over to the bed and sits.  
he glares at the blank television. it's a smart television, which means it should have youtube and netflix.  
and it does, but in a wrong kind of way.  
tyler can only watch. he can't type anything anywhere, so he can't send messages for help in any way.   
even if tyler could send messages at this point, would he?  
no, probably not, because even if someone saw the messages, why should they help him? why should anyone come to his aid? why should anyone care about him in even the slightest bit?  
it was his fuck-up that landed him in this situation, wasn't it?  
he had seen the sign on the door, and what it said.  
"this room is cursed. enter at your own risk," the sign had said.  
tyler had laughed.   
laughed at the sign. and he walked in.  
and as far as tyler is concerned, his life ended that day.   
so if someone did somehow, someday, come to save tyler, what would the point be?  
because your life can't start after it ends, can it?  
-  
'holy shit.'  
josh parks his bright red bicycle just outside the house.   
'what is this? i've never seen this before.'  
he walks up the steps, his black-and-white converse making little clunk, clunk, clunk noises as he does.   
josh opens the door without a second thought and steps into the house.  
immediately, he has to turn away and cough from the amount of thick dust the door's movement stirs up.  
'this house must be fucking ancient. like, medieval times old. jesus.'  
he looks around, though all he can see is darkness, so he pulls a flashlight out of the loop in the side of his jeans and turns it on.   
"holy fucking shit."  
there's infinite mold and rot on the walls. josh can't help but wonder how long this house has really been around.  
he walks carelessly forward, taking note of how the floor dips and squelches with each and every step he takes.   
he enters a hallway, sighing as the sleeve of his brand-new white hoodie brushes against the dusty doorway.   
'probably all stained now. mom's gonna beat my ass when she sees. hopefully i can get the laundry done before she gets home in a couple weeks. . . eh. i'm sure i can.'  
josh waves his flashlight back and forth slowly.   
in front of him, there are three doors. two are black. one is white, and it has a sign on it, though the engraving in the sign is scratched out and unreadable.  
he opens the door farthest to the right, a black one, and steps inside.  
it's a kitchen.  
the floor is soaked, as are the walls and ceiling. the whole room sags like a filled balloon, and surely, josh thinks, if the wind blew too hard, it'd be history. there's a kitchen table with one chair at it, and termites have clearly gotten to both, as there's holes peppered throughout them that range from the diameter of a dime to that of a baseball. the only thing in the room intact is the kitchen sink, which is somehow still on.  
josh walks over to the sink with a sigh and turns it off.   
'water bill must be higher than me on friday nights.'  
he chuckles at his thought and pivots on his heel to face the door.  
he walks out.  
josh opens the second black door.   
it's a closet, josh thinks, and it's empty, so he closes the door with a slam and a click.  
he steps over to the white door and realizes something about it.  
'there's no handle. that's weird.'  
he presses his ear tight to the door and hears gentle scuffling.  
josh frowns, confused as to how anything could get into the room if the door doesn't have a handle. he looks down and sees light, bright, plentiful light, from under the door.  
hesitantly, he calls, "hello?"


	3. three

'hearing shit again.'  
"hello?" calls the voice again.   
tyler frowns and turns on the bed to face the door.  
'there's. . there's no fucking way. i'm imagining it.'  
he stands, and slowly makes his way over to the door until he stands awkwardly in front of it.  
". . . hello?" he calls back hesitantly. his voice shakes from not speaking in so long.  
"hey! who are you?"   
tyler frowns deeper than before. 'this. . is weird.'  
"tyler. who're you?"  
"josh. are you really in this room?"  
"er. . yeah? how did you find the door?"  
"i found a house, and in the house there's this door. what do you mean, how did i find the door? you sound surprised."  
"well. . i've been here for a long time."  
a grunt sounds from the other side of the door, then a soft thud. tyler supposes the boy has sat down.  
"how long? a couple hours? a couple days?"  
tyler actually laughs.   
"seven years. more than that."  
"seven years?" josh asks incredulously.   
'oh my god. isn't that what i just fuckin' said, idiot?'  
"yep."  
there's a short bit of silence, in which tyler assumes josh to be thinking.   
"well, why haven't you come out?"  
"there's no handle, can't you see that, dumbass?"  
"well, yeah, i can see that. isn't there a way you can break the fuckin' door?"  
"nope. i've tried before. hey, don't bother thinking of shit, 'cause it won't work. i've tried everything."  
"everything?"  
"yes, that is what i just said, everything."  
"you sure are moody."  
"yeah, and?"  
"hm. nothing. just pointing it out."  
another pause. tyler takes this opportunity to sigh and sit with his back to the door.  
"well. . do you want me to go get help?" josh asks, and tyler sighs.  
"please don't, actually. i'd prefer not to be on the news or involve cops or firefighters or any of that stupid shit. and i just, i just. . just. . no. don't get help."  
"sounds like shit reasoning if you ask me, but alright, i won't, i guess."  
"hm. 'kay. cool."  
there's yet another pause. tyler hears a sigh from the opposite side of the door.   
of the barrier between him and the entire rest of the world.  
"how old are you, tyler?"  
"sixteen, i think. you?"  
"seventeen."  
"damn. i was hoping i was older than you."  
"why?"  
"dominance or something. i dunno. just was hoping."  
"hm. 'kay. cool," josh says in a mocking voice. tyler rolls his eyes.  
"idiot."  
"you're an idiot, idiot."  
"how would you know?"  
". . . that's a fair point, actually-"  
tyler cuts him off quickly. "i know," he snaps, then huffs. "sorry. my people skills aren't great, seeing as i haven't spoken to a person for over seven years."   
his voice is starting to sound normal again.   
"it's okay. i've heard worse attitudes," josh says with a small chuckle.  
tyler snorts in disbelief. "sure. no need to lie to make me feel better, y'know."  
"i'm not, i'm tellin' the truth!" josh protests.   
tyler rolls his eyes again. "yeah, whatever. look, get lost before i hurt you somehow."  
"you can't touch me. how could you hurt me?"  
"you know what i meant."  
"i'm not just gonna leave you here, tyler. you think i'm some sort of heartless dick?"  
"i first met you five minutes ago. how would i know if you were a heartless dick or not?"  
josh sighs heavily, and tyler smiles. smiles, for the first time in, how many years?  
right. seven years.  
the first thing he's smiled about in seven years is irritating someone.  
"shut up with the sarcasm shit. look, i'm gonna get you out of there somehow, okay tyler?"  
"ugh. don't fucking bother. it's a waste of time."  
tyler grimaces and stares down at the pristine white floor.  
"no it's not."  
"yes, it is."  
"how?" josh sounds almost offended when he asks that.  
"you'd be wasting your time."  
"how?"   
"i'm a waste of time. even if i somehow got out of here, nobody out in the real world cares about me. nobody out in the real world remembers me. and it's not like i have the skills to make new friends, and i don't know where my family is."  
"even though all that might be true, it doesn't make you a waste of time."   
'ugh. fucking liar.'  
tyler's sick of the lies already. because every compliment he'll ever hear, every compliment he's ever heard, is a lie, he just knows it.  
"whatever."   
"i'm serious, tyler. . what's your last name?"  
"joseph."  
"right, well i'm serious, tyler joseph. you're not a waste of time. i'm glad i found this door."  
"i could be fake," tyler says suddenly, and josh is quick to respond.  
"what?"  
"you don't even know if i'm real."   
there's yet another pause. tyler is sure josh is frowning, he's sure josh is stumped.  
"what's your favorite color?" josh asks.   
tyler furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but doesn't hesitate to respond.  
"black."  
"favorite animal?"  
"dog. . i think."  
"favorite movie?"  
"spider-man homecoming."  
"favorite movie star?"   
"tom holland. he's cute."  
"so you're gay?"  
"i don't know. he's just cute. why are you asking me all this?"  
"only real people have enough emotion to answer as honestly as you just did. you're real."  
"bullshit!" tyler laughs. "you can't prove it!"  
"i just did, idiot!"   
"nuh-uh, idiot!"   
they laugh for a moment, then tyler sighs.  
"this sucks."  
"why?"  
"'cause, as soon as you leave, you'll forget about me."  
"stop."  
"stop what?"  
"being so fuckin' depressing, god." josh chuckles from the other side of the door.  
tyler sighs and smiles. "wish i could."  
"what do you mean?"  
"i don't really remember how to be happy."  
it goes silent. then there's a soft gasp from outside.   
something pokes tyler in the hand, and he quickly looks down. josh has stuck his hand through the gap at the bottom of the door.  
tyler grins.  
"this is my space, bitch," he laughs, playfully jabbing at josh's hand with his own. josh laughs, too.  
"share!"  
"i wish i-"  
"tyler, stop."   
tyler sighs and shakes his head slowly, his smile fading. he changes the topic.  
"you asked me my last name. what's yours?"  
"dun."   
"done? like, d-o-n-e, done?"  
"no, dun, d-u-n, dun."  
"oh. what's your middle name?"  
"william. yours?"  
"robert."   
"tyler robert joseph."  
"joshua william dun."  
"how'd you know my first name was joshua?"  
"well, no one just names their kid josh. i haven't seen real daylight in years and i still know that."   
josh snorts loudly.   
"fair." there's a final pause, and josh sighs. "i've got to go home, i have things to get done and i need to sleep. i'll be back tomorrow."  
tyler frowns. 'no you won't. fucking liar.'  
"okay, josh. see you."  
"yeah. see you, tyler. hang in there."  
there's a quiet scuff sound on the other side of the door, then heavy, squeaking footsteps.  
josh is gone.


	4. four

'i can't let tyler down.'  
josh rides his bicycle down the sidewalk at alarming speed.   
surrounding him is the pouring rain, each drop hitting the pavement with the loud, echoing sound of a thousand thunderstorms at once. it falls down on josh's head, soaking his dark brown hair and pressing it tightly, uncomfortably, to his head.  
it's funny, josh thinks, how his mind is more flooded than the streets that already look like rivers after only an hour of rain.   
he reaches the house.   
he throws his bicycle down in the grass in front of the broken steps that lead to the creaky door and walks in.  
the floor sags and slouches under josh's feet, despite his lack of weight.  
he hurries forward across the long room and into the small hallway, then sits down just outside the door with his back to the rough wood and sighs.  
"tyler?"  
from the other side of the door comes nothing. silence.  
". . tyler?" calls josh again.  
josh frowns deeply.  
'i. . hope he's okay. .'  
since they've last spoken, josh has realized how sad and alone tyler must feel on that side of the door. since they've last spoken, josh has realized what people sometimes resort to when they're sad and alone. since they've last spoken, josh has realized he can't let tyler resort to that. he won't let tyler resort to that.   
tyler is josh's only friend, and josh is tyler's only friend. only josh knows the first part. they both know the second.  
for his benefit, and for tyler's, josh needs to be there to make sure tyler stays alive.  
"tyler, please. ." josh calls loudly, knocking on the door from his sitting position. "tyler joseph, i know you're in there, there's nowhere else you can be. please."  
'he's not asleep. i know he isn't asleep, he would've woken up by now. tyler, please, fuck, please answer the fucking. .'  
josh inhales shakily and takes out his cellphone, dragging it out of his pocket with great difficulty as if it were a hundred-pound weight.   
he flips it over so the camera is on the bottom and opens the camera app from the lock screen, then takes a picture.  
he lifts his phone up so the screen is visible to him, and scans the picture.  
his immediate emotion is a mix of relief and worry, simultaneously.   
tyler isn't in the picture at all. he's just not there. the picture shows only a white room with expensive-looking furniture. but, to the left of the picture is a doorway, which leads to another room-looking place that josh can't see.  
josh sighs and puts his phone away.   
his head falls back lightly against the door and he closes his eyes.  
he's not just going to leave if tyler isn't there.  
he's going to wait until tyler comes back.  
-  
'he's not coming. he thought he could give me a false sense of hope. but no. i'm not going to let that happen. fuck him.'  
tyler paces in the back of the classroom section of the room.   
his arms are crossed and held tight to his chest, a defiant pose that would surely get him in trouble at a real school if he had the option to go to one. the hood of his dark blue hoodie is up over his head, covering the little bit of hair located there. his black jeans sag, showing the brand name in the waistband of his boxers.  
"i won't let him fucking get to me," tyler mumbles to himself as he paces. he shakes his head to himself. "i won't. i won't. i won't. i can't. he doesn't really give a shit about me. why should i be his friend if he doesn't fucking care about me? huh? huh, tyler, what's the response to that? nothing. 'cause i'm right."  
he nods once, as if setting his words in a stone with the words "verified, true information" engraved underneath them.  
tyler believes everything he says.  
he truly does believe that josh doesn't care about him, won't care about him. that josh is just playing with his heart and emotions, making him think he might have a friend for the first time in seven years.   
he refuses, or at least he wants to refuse, josh's "friendship."  
and yet, something is pulling him, calling him back to that door.   
tyler needs to go back to the door.  
tyler runs back to the door, through vast rooms filled with millions, billions of dollars of furniture. he stops when soft crying echoes through the gap under the door.  
"don't cry," tyler says softly as he sits with his back to the door.  
there's a quick hiccup from behind him, and tyler grins a bit as josh sighs out an exhausted-sounding, "you're okay. good."  
"you thought i wasn't okay, josh?"  
"yeah. i. . i worried you had. . you know. given up."  
"oh." there's a short pause, then tyler chuckles in a sad sort of way. "if i was gonna do that, i'd have done it by now."  
"i guess." josh's voice comes out in a whiny mumble. he sniffles every couple seconds.  
tyler sighs softly. "can i make this up to you somehow?"  
"make what up to me?"  
"you. crying."  
"what, you care suddenly? just yesterday you hated me."  
"yeah, i still do."   
"oh-"  
"nah. i'm just joshin' you."  
"did you really just use. . my name like that?"  
"it's a word." tyler smirks. he sees this as a sort of victory. then, though, he comes back to the sad bit of reality. his expression fades and he sighs. "so how can i make this up to you?"  
"take a picture of yourself for me."  
"josh, are you asking me for nudes on day two?"  
"no, you stupid fucking. ." josh sighs and chuckles. "clothed. just a picture of you. i want to see what you look like. i'll show you a picture of me first if you want."  
"sure, i guess. but i don't really know how to take good pictures of myself."  
"that's okay."  
there's the click clack clickety-click-clack of josh typing things in and poking and opening things on his phone, then a hiss as the near-flat phone slides under the door.  
tyler picks up the phone and looks at it.   
almost immediately, his heart skips a beat, and his eyes go wide.  
because josh is attractive.   
even compared to all those youtubers and celebrities tyler sees on the internet every day, josh is insanely good-looking.  
'holy shit.'  
josh snorts from the other side of the door, and tyler realizes he said 'holy shit' out loud. he can feel his cheeks heat up and go pink.   
"holy shit, huh?"  
"yeah, like, holy shit you're fucking ugly," tyler says, a tightness to his voice clearly indicating he's lying.  
"yeah, sure. take a picture of yourself now, c'mon."   
tyler can't see josh, of course, but he can hear the boy's smile.  
he sighs and stands, walking over to the big mirror.   
he stares at himself in the mirror for a moment.  
he stares at his dark blue hoodie with white drawstrings and creases under the hood and around his torso. he stares at his black jeans that slouch and sag just as much as he does when he's sad. he stares at his black tennis shoes with the nike logo on them.  
he lifts the phone up so it's near his chest and a bit to the side and looks at the camera in the mirror.  
he smiles softly and takes the picture, being sure the flash is off.   
he doesn't look at the picture before shuffling slowly back over to the door and sliding it under the gap.  
"well, how do i look? i didn't check before."  
he waits for a reply.  
but he doesn't hear one.


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's shorter oop

'he's. . he's just. . wow. .'  
josh stares down at his phone, brown eyes wide like full moons.  
"josh?"  
the word echoes through his head. he hears it, but he doesn't listen to it. he's too captivated by tyler's picture to reply or even comprehend that he's being spoken to.  
"josh? joshua. did you leave?"  
josh inhales sharply and looks away from the picture, clicking his phone off.   
"no, i'm still here," he says softly.  
"is something wrong?" tyler asks, his voice soft and concerned.  
"no."  
that's all josh says.   
there's a moment of silence, then tyler mutters a hesitant, "are you sure?"  
"yeah. i'm sure."  
'he's so fucking pretty.'  
josh sighs, his head falling back onto the door once more.  
'fuck. do i have a crush on a boy who never really met? who i've never really seen other than in this one picture?'  
josh hears a sharp inhale from the other side of the door, and then a quick, choked-out, "josh?"  
"hmm?" josh hums softly in reply, raising an eyebrow.  
"the door. look at the gap under it."  
josh scoots away from the door a bit and turns by a small angle, then cranes his neck slightly to look at the gap.  
it's about two inches high now, as opposed to the one inch high it was before.  
". . what the fuck? tyler, was it like that before?"  
"no!" tyler shouts, scrambling back, and josh can see it under the door.  
"w-. . that's so weird. ."  
"no shit, josh."  
josh sighs and runs his hand through his hair.  
"let's just not make a big deal about it, ty."  
"i. . i guess."  
josh smirks as tyler doesn't catch his new nickname.  
"so," tyler murmurs, "now what?"  
"hm. . i have an extra phone i could give to you. we could skype when i can't be here."  
"you think there's fuckin' internet out here, you idiot?"  
"data, idiot."  
"hmph. if you wanna waste your money, sure, but i don't need it."  
"that's it, then. tomorrow i'm bringing you a phone to skype me on."


	6. six

'he's not gonna show up.'  
tyler's thoughts have been getting more negative by the minute despite the fact that everything that's been happening to him recently.  
a small part of him is yelling at him, saying 'stop being so negative, you know he's fucking coming!' while the larger part of him says 'fuck it.'  
so tyler sits, full of thoughts, on the bed in the same room as the door.   
and he waits.  
after some time of waiting, he checks his phone.  
"only 4:12," he mumbles to the empty room. "josh usually gets here at 4:30."  
so he waits some more.  
the silence in the room is almost deafening to him as the minutes pass by.  
until, finally, the silence is interupted by a sharp hissing sound as a thin-ish box passes under the door.  
"there's your phone, ty," calls josh, and some dim light from under the door is blocked as the boy takes a seat in front of it.  
"oh. thanks?" tyler mutters as he walks over and sits down beside the door.   
he opens the box, which is a plastic-y texture and black and a perfect square, and looks down at the brand-new iphone 7.  
"josh, this is new. you said you'd give me your old one."  
"did i? i don't remember. don't care though, that one's yours now. it's on my plan thing, so it'll automatically get paid for. my number's already in there, so we can talk when i'm not here."  
"hm. . okay, thanks i guess."  
"anytime, ty."  
tyler smiles to himself, thinking fondly 'he has a nice little nickname for me. i guess josh is kinda a nickname, but, i dunno. maybe i should come up with one.'  
". . what's a cute nickname for you, josh?"  
"cute? why cute?"  
"well, by cute, i didn't mean cute, i meant like. ."   
tyler's heart skips a couple beats. he's not sure why, but it does.  
"no, ty, you meant cute. and i dunno. i'm not good with nicknames."  
"well i like your nickname for me, so i guess you are."  
"i literally just shortened your already short name, it's not hard."  
"well i'm not gonna call you, like, jo. or jaw. or jos. or j. so."  
"why?"  
"those sound weird. what, do you like any of them?"  
"oh, no. i just wanted to know why."  
"oh."  
"yeah, oh."  
there was some silence.  
"josh?"   
"hmm?"  
"i've been. . happy. when you come around."  
"oh?"  
"yeah."  
"are you not usually happy?"  
"no."  
tyler speaks nonchalantly.   
he isn't sure whether or not 'normal people' are usually happy. how would he know?  
but, being honest with himself, he doesn't really care.  
"oh. well i'm glad i make you happy, tyler."  
"yeah. me too, josh."  
*super unedited*


	7. seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> most of the chapters for a while are just gonna be dialogue sorry  
> also they'll be kinda short  
> k thanks

'i miss tyler and it's only been an hour.'  
josh stares down at his phone.   
the screen has been the same for over seven minutes now.  
it's been on tyler's skype contact, for the skype account he'd made tyler and put on the new phone.  
'should i?'  
he glances at the time.  
'8:43. and it's friday night.'  
josh sighs and clicks the 'call' button.   
'fuck it.'  
it rings for a moment, and then there's a soft "hello? josh?"  
josh smiles wide and hits the speakerphone button.  
"hi, tyler."  
"oh. hi. what's skype?"  
"you don't kn-" josh cuts himself off. "it's a calling app. and you can turn on the camera so we can see each other if we want."  
"oh. ew. my face."  
"your face is nice, what d'you mean 'ew'?"  
"nah, it's nasty. your face is nicer."  
"shut up. you're good looking."  
"no, you."  
"no, you."  
"no- okay, enough, ty."  
"hm. fine."  
"turn on your camera thing and set it up somewhere."  
"no?"  
"yes."  
"oh. okay."  
it's silent for a moment, and josh stares expectantly at his camera screen.  
then a clear photo of a pretty boy - tyler - appears where he's looking, and he smiles wide.  
the photo moves.  
tyler sits back against the backboard of his clearly-expensive bed and rests his head back on it.  
"you're pretty, tyler."


	8. eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter gets hella sexual   
> yes i know it's early  
> but they're boys  
> so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another warning that this is hella sexual and the next chapter is going to be more sexual

'i'm what?'  
". . huh?"  
"you're pretty."  
"oh, um. . thank you? you're. . you're good-looking too."  
tyler finds himself turning a little pink, and when he looks over towards his phone, he sees josh smirking. his eyes go a bit wide. he pulls his hood up over his head and covers his face.  
"you turned your thing on?" tyler asks.  
"mhm."  
'i think he's turned on too. geez. creep.'  
"are you alright, josh?"  
"mhm."  
"your voice is deeper than normal."  
"is it?"  
"yeah. . by like, a lot."  
"hm. weird."  
"are you. . horny or something?"  
"me? nah."  
tyler narrows his eyes inside his hoodie. 'that sarcastic bitch.'  
"what the hell are you horny over?"  
"i dunno. i'm a fuckin' teenager, you don't just randomly get horny?"  
"i mean, i guess i do. ."  
"hm. nice."  
"josh, are you thirsting over me right now?"  
"i might be."  
"how?"  
josh chuckles. "you have a nice body. and a nice face, but i can't see that part sadly."  
"hm. . and you won't be seeing it for a while. creep-o," tyler says, but there's a hint of amusement in his voice that josh picks up on.  
there's a moment of silence.  
"hey josh?"  
"yeah b-. . yeah tyler?"  
'i'll ask about that later.'  
"do you have a thing for me?"  
"what do you mean?"  
"like, feelings."  
"for you?"  
"yeah."  
"well. . i mean, yeah, kinda."  
"what the fuck does 'kinda' mean?"  
"it means i think i do but i don't know."  
"hm. 'kay."  
". . is there something wrong with that?"  
"no," tyler says softly, rolling onto his side and nibbling on his lip gently in thought. he hears josh grunt quietly. "what was that?"  
"you have a nice ass too."  
"jesus, josh."  
"what?"  
"you're so horny over whatever the fuck i'm s'posed to be." tyler chuckles slightly at the statement.  
"you're hot, what do you mean?"  
"josh, if you're gonna jerk off, just-"  
"what? who said i was gonna jerk off?"  
"you're heavily implying that you wanna jerk off to me or something somehow. i give you permission so i don't have to deal with your hormonal ass much longer."  
"i can't jerk off to you in clothes. that's just awkward. you'd have to do it too."  
"what? no."  
"then no. you just have to deal with me 'til i pass out," josh says teasingly.  
tyler sighs softly.  
". . . fucking. . fine."  
"what?"  
"i'll jerk off with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S E X U A L C O N T E N T A H E A D


	9. nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sexual stuff  
> skip this chapter if you don't wanna read it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not great at smut so gl getting through this  
> i'm also kinda cutting it short cuz i'm tired af tbh it's like 11pm  
> also sorry for any typos i'm tired ^

'holy shit. he's really gonna do it?'   
josh's eyes go somewhat wide as tyler takes off his hoodie.  
"wait, i was kidding, you don't have to. ." josh murmurs.   
"no, it's fine. just don't talk about it again," tyler replies with a soft chuckle.  
". . deal i guess?"  
"do you not want me to?"   
"no, i do, just. . you really don't have to. if it's gonna make you uncomfortable-"   
"no, josh, it's fine. really. promise."   
josh sighs and licks his lips, then says softly, "okay."  
"so you want me to just, get naked on camera and jerk off in front of you?"   
"i. . i guess. if you wanna turn off the camera, i don't have to see you, hearing you would be just fine."   
"that's. . preferable."   
tyler walks over to the camera and turns it off. josh turns his off too.   
josh hears soft creaking and the squishing sounds of tyler crawling across his mattress, then a muffled thump when the boy lays down. then a zipper, a button being undone, and ruffling of denim.   
"i'm starting i guess?" tyler says with slight amusement.   
"if you want."   
"hm. fine."   
tyler inhales softly, and exhales shakily, a soft hum coming over the phone.   
josh's eyes go wider than before, and his mouth fills with saliva.   
"hot," he whispers, his basketball shorts suddenly feeling very tight in the front.   
"hmm?" tyler mutters, his voice still somewhat shaky.   
"n-nothing," josh replies.   
he takes off his basketball shorts and drops them beside his bed.   
'thank god mom isn't here.'  
he takes off his boxers too, sighing softly in relief as the pressure is gone.  
"s-so you're naked now?" tyler says in a hushed voice, his breathing faster than normal over the phone.  
"on the bottom, yeah," josh murmurs.  
tyler hums softly, and more fabric rustling his heard. "there. me too."  
then there's quiet wet noises, and tyler whimpers.  
'oh, god.'  
josh wraps his hand around his hard cock and slowly pumps it up and down, back and forth. he moans softly, the sound low and echoing.  
"oh, geez, josh," tyler chuckles, his laugh followed by his own soft, shaky moan.   
"don't say geez," josh giggles. "that's not a hot thing to say. at all."  
"what the fuck do you - mm - want me to, to say, huh? fire - hmf - lava, b-boiling water-"  
"i didn't mean temperature, idiot. dirty talk, you know."  
"yeah, okay."  
tyler's breath hitches again and he lets out a slightly louder, shakier moan.  
josh moves his hand faster, rasping out quietly "fuck, tyler, you sound so pretty. ."  
tyler groans softly.   
"what are you imagining, hm?"  
"n-nothing. . ?"  
"mm, no. you have to picture. . s-something, that, oh, that makes it better."  
"something like. . like what?"  
"my cock up your t-tight ass."  
tyler moans somewhat loudly, and the wet noises on the other side of the phone increase in volume.  
"mmh, josh, fuck. ."  
a couple minutes pass by of them exchanging talk like that, until tyler lets out a sharp moan.  
"gotta c-come, josh."  
josh moans, a guttural sound, and growls out shakily "go on then."  
tyler groans loudly as he releases, along with a couple soft moans and squeaks and whines.  
josh releases, too, and sighs softly.  
there's a few moments of silence.  
"maybe we should do that more, actually, josh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bedtime


	10. ten

'hmph. three days.'  
it's been three days since josh last came to tyler.  
in all contexts.  
he's been texting tyler constantly, sure, but his presence is far better than text.  
tyler sighs and leans back against his wall.  
"josh, i miss you being here," he texts.  
"i'm sorry, my bike broke and it's a multiple hour long walk as opposed to a one hour bike ride," josh replies.  
"i understand, i just miss you."  
tyler frowns.  
'i'm attached to him.'  
and he frowns more.  
'and i don't think he's going to get rid of me anymore. . what is this weird feeling i get in my stomach, too? it makes me feel. . float-y.'  
'maybe josh knows.'  
"josh?"  
"yes tyler?"  
"i feel weird when i talk to you."  
"what do you mean weird?"  
"i mean, like. . my stomach gets all light and i get all giddy and gross and childish."  
"oh."  
"oh?"  
"well, um.. usually when you feel that around someone it means, y'know.. you like them."  
"like them? of course i like you."  
"no, like, LIKE them."  
"oh. shit."  
"yeah."  
"so i like you?"  
"i mean, i don't know. that's for you to decide."  
"i think i do. but i don't know."  
"you don't know?"  
"i think i do."  
"tyler."  
"i do."


	11. eleven

'i'll go see him today.'  
josh calls an uber, something he didn't really think of before.  
it arrives, and he gets in.  
it drives him to the house, where he gets out.   
josh walks into the house, and up to the door.  
he knocks.  
"ty?"  
a gasp is heard from the other side of the door.  
"josh! i thought you weren't coming anymore?"  
"i never said that, tyler."  
"oh. well i guess i thought it."  
"hm.- hey tyler?"  
"yeah?"  
". . have you looked at the door?"  
"no. why?"  
"look at the fucking door."  
"okay, jesus-"  
the door.  
underneath it, there is a gap.  
a six inch gap.  
". . tyler."  
"yeah?"  
"you can fit out of that."  
"oh."  
"what are you waiting for? come on!"  
". . josh, i dunno. ."  
josh frowns. "what? what do you mean?"  
"i don't know if i want to come out."  
"why the hell not?"  
"it's. . scary out there."  
"the fuck? how?"  
"you wouldn't understand. it just is."  
"try to explain it to me."  
"i wouldn't have anywhere to go. the only friend i have is you and other than you i don't know what people are like, or how to make friends. i don't have a job or money, and i don't want to go to school. i know everything they're going to teach me. the police would find me or something and cause a big thing, and i've already told you i don't want that to happen."  
josh inhales shakily and shakes his head.  
"you have. . points. but out here, there's me."  
". . yeah. i know."  
"tyler, please come out here."  
"why?"  
"i want to see you."  
"why?"  
"you said you like me the other day, right? well i like you too. a lot."  
josh feels the barrier behind his back fade away and turns around with a grunt.   
the gap is now about a foot tall.  
"tyler, oh my god, please. ."  
"josh, i'm scared."  
"tyler, i'll protect you from everything you're scared of."  
"i don't know."  
"please."  
"josh."  
"tyler."  
"s-stop. stop asking."  
"what? why?"  
"just please stop. it's stressing me out."  
". . . okay."


	12. twelve / end

'i don't wanna go.'  
it's been a week since josh last showed up.  
they've spoken every day over the phone and the door hasn't been mentioned.  
tyler hasn't looked at it, either.  
but then, tyler hears a knock at the door.  
"tyler!"  
his eyes go a bit wide.  
"y-yeah josh?"  
"come on. i got you a place to stay. and i have a special surprise there for you, too. and i'll stay there with you."  
". . . what?"  
"tyler, come on. if you don't like it after a week you can come back."  
"no, josh, i-"  
"if you don't come out i'm coming in to get you. this isn't to hurt you or scare you, ty. this is for your own good. you have to come out of there and into the real world now that you have a chance."  
"but-"  
"i want to see you. face to face, tyler, please."  
"i. . ."  
"please."  
". . . okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi this was somewhat rushed bc i have things to do but i wanted to end this  
> might do a sequel if enough of yall want me to


End file.
